Prosthetics creates artificial body parts and wounds from silicone or foam latex for special effects and character design.
Foam latex prosthetics are vulcanized at 100°C for 45-90 minutes, achieving a Shore A hardness of 15-25, which gives them skin-like elasticity. Silicone prosthetics use platinum-catalyzed systems with hardness grades between Shore 00-30 and 00-50 for different body regions. Gelatin prosthetics melt at 27°C and are suitable for injury depictions that are manipulated during shooting. Production involves plaster casts, from which negative and positive molds are created. Modern variants utilize 3D scan technology with resolutions up to 0.1mm for precise fits.
Lon Chaney Sr. used rudimentary facial prosthetics made of wax and gelatin in "The Phantom of the Opera" (1925). In 1968, Dick Smith revolutionized the industry with foam latex applications in "The Godfather" - Marlon Brando received facial prosthetics for over 4 hours daily. Stan Winston established silicone as a standard material in the 1980s and developed mechanically animated facial prosthetics for "The Terminator" (1984). Rick Baker perfected transformation sequences for "An American Werewolf in London" (1981) with over 40 individual prosthetic stages.
Full-face transformations like Gary Oldman in "The Dark Tower" require 6-8 hours of daily application time by 3-4 makeup artists. The "The Lord of the Rings" trilogy used over 1,800 individual prosthetic pieces for orc masks with custom dental prosthetics and contact lenses. Aging effects require multi-part systems: forehead, cheek, neck, and hand prosthetics are applied separately and blended with makeup transitions. Injury depictions utilize pre-fabricated wound prosthetics with integrated blood tubes for real-time effects.
Prosthetics differ from pure makeup through the three-dimensional alteration of facial or body contours. CGI face replacement (digital makeup) offers unlimited possibilities but costs €50,000-€200,000 per film minute compared to €500-€2,000 daily prosthetic costs. Animatronic prosthetics integrate servomotors for facial movements, while static prosthetics rely on the actor's expressions. Modern hybrid approaches combine practical prosthetics with digital post-production for optimal realism at controlled costs.
Ich muss die Beleuchtung an Prothesen-Oberflächen anpassen, da Silikon anders reflektiert als Haut - meist brauche ich 20% weniger Key-Light-Intensität. Die Kanten erfordern präzise Schatten-Platzierung, und ich filme oft mit längeren Brennweiten ab 85mm, um Applikationsränder zu kaschieren.
Ich plane Prothesen-Szenen am Drehtag-Ende, da die 8-stündige Tragezeit der Darsteller begrenzt ist und das Material ermüdet. Für Verwandlungssequenzen koordiniere ich 5-12 verschiedene Prothesen-Stadien mit der Continuity, wobei jede Stufe exakte Timecode-Markierungen erhält.
Ich kalkuliere 3.000-5.000€ täglich für einen Vollzeit-Prothesen-Maskenbildner plus 500-1.500€ Material pro Drehtag. Die 6-8 Wochen Vorbereitungszeit für komplexe Prothesen blockieren Hauptdarsteller für Abdrücke und Tests, was Scheduling-Konflikte mit anderen Produktionen verursacht.
1. Zu welchem Department gehört „Prosthetik"?
2. Wie viele verschiedene Fachperspektiven bietet dieser Eintrag?
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